Obese of the world, manna from heaven...

... brought to you by the only related-to-academics blog I like, Chocolate & Gold CoinsMichael says that the reason so many people are obese in the developed world is not any genetic pre-disposition but availability of pre-prepared food. The emphasis on the pre- is what is important and he has stated a hypothesis on why this particular category of food causes havoc with the body weight.The fundamental cause of obesity is the cheap availability of pre-prepared food. This includes snacks in vending machines, coffee and pastry at the coffee houses, fast food restaurants, and store baked cookies and other snacks. We are tempted at every corner to overindulge, and many of us do that.

Let me give a simple example of how ease of eating leads to overindulgence. Try the following experiment at your office: leave out a bowl of almonds with a sign saying, “Eat me” by the coffee machine. In first case, the almonds are unshelled and you leave a nutcracker. In the second case, the almonds are shelled. What do you observe? I can tell you: the shelled almond will be consumed in minutes, but the unshelled almonds will be largely ignored.